Kayak to Lunch in Mission Bay, San Diego

Today we were able to do one of our favorite things – go out on our kayak! I was not overly excited to do so as it was completely overcast and only 64 degrees outside. This actually worked in our favor as others obviously felt the same way; there were hardly any other boats compared to usual. We decided to take advantage of the glassy water by taking the kayak out of Mission Bay and to the ocean.

Here is the route we took:

On our way out of the channel, we saw a sea lion peeking its head out of the water. It ducked under and resurfaced very close to our kayak; I wanted to paddle further away! The sea lion was ripping apart a fish, and it kept throwing the fish up and playing with it. I loved seeing it eating so incredibly close to us, out in the ocean!

Here is a picture of my view at the ocean, with Mission Beach on one side and Ocean Beach on the other.

Kayak view of Ocean Beach

Here is a picture of the sea lion – which was much closer than it looks in the picture!

After we returned from the ocean, (arms burning), we decided to eat lunch at the Barefoot Bar and Grill. We were able to kayak up to a dock by the restaurant and tie up our boat. The restaurant was extremely beautiful; they have a pond, a variety of trees and flowers growing, and a gorgeous waterfall. None of this is necessary as the restaurant is obviously right on the bay and has a fantastic view. We sat outside – they had heating lamps going! The food was nothing amazing… but we knew this ahead of time as we were breaking our Yelp rule (going to a place rated less than four stars). They can skate by on mediocre food because the view is so beautiful! As for me, my opinion of the place could be slightly inflated as it is really hard to be in a bad mood when you arrive to a restaurant via a boat!

Outside the restaurant

We hope to experience more kayak-and-dine adventures soon! Unfortunately, as vegetarians who do not eat seafood, our options are limited.